The world is witnessing the largest refugee crisis since World War II. More than four million Syrians have fled conflict and violence in their home country, and 12 million more are displaced internally. For many of these refugees, finding safety and opportunity to rebuild their lives in a third country is the only hope they have.
However, some state governments and congressional leaders are calling for a stop to the U.S. refugee resettlement program. At a time when the United States needs to show humanitarian leadership, it would be a mistake to shut down a program that has saved millions of lives. As an organization that works with Syrian refugees in Jordan and Turkey and also resettles refugees to the United States, we know firsthand that Syrian refugees have been victims of the same sort of terror inflicted last week upon Paris and Beirut. Most have lost loved ones to persecution and violence in addition to having had their homes destroyed.
The U.S. resettlement program has helped shoulder the responsibility that many countries in the Middle East and Europe face, where in some cases the refugees make up more than 20 percent of their total population. In the past five years, the U.S. has received fewer than 2,500 Syrian refugees, most of whom were women and children, through a highly rigorous process that usually takes two to three years to complete.
Refugees first have to register with the United Nations, where they have to prove that they are a refugee, which means they have to have a well-founded fear of persecution based on five specific grounds: Nationality, race, religion, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.
Once they are registered, a small number of the most vulnerable cases are referred to the U.S. to be considered for resettlement. Only refugees who cannot return home or locally integrate in the country of asylum are referred for resettlement. The Department of State, through the Resettlement Support Center, then collects biographical information and personal data for security clearance. The Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Department of Defense and multiple intelligence agencies then work together to carry out multiple security screenings based on biometric and biographic data, photographs and other background information over a period that lasts on average 18-24 months.
Syrian refugees also undergo “enhanced reviews” in which specially trained officers examine each case biography for accuracy and authenticity. In addition to these security checks, every single refugee is interviewed face-to-face by a Department of Homeland Security officials and must undergo a medical screening.
Once refugees are conditionally approved for resettlement, they are matched with World Relief or one of the other eight refugee resettlement agencies in the U.S. Our responsibility as their agency is to partner with local communities, including churches and businesses, to help the refugees get on their feet once they arrive. Refugees go through cultural orientation and pay for their plane tickets via loans to come to the U.S. Refugees have been welcomed by evangelical churches all over the country, as we believe it is an expression of our Christian faith to welcome the stranger.
Less than one percent of the world’s refugees are ever resettled to a third country. A hallmark of the U.S. refugee program is that it accepts refugees based on vulnerability and does not discriminate against any particular religion. It should remain that way. Instead of allowing ourselves to be consumed by fear and misinformation, we must ground our response in compassion and the facts.
This is not to say that we shouldn’t carefully vet refugees, but let’s get the facts first before making generalizations and shutting down a program that has literally saved thousands of lives.To turn our backs on refugees now would betray our nation’s core values to provide refuge for the persecuted and affirm the very message those who perpetrate terrorism would seek to send.
Stephan Bauman is the president and CEO of World Relief, which is the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals and one of nine national agencies authorized by the U.S. State Department to resettle refugees in the United States. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
